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I hit Wondercon on Saturday in the pouring rain, nearly got wiped out on the drive up there by some jackass in a raised pickup, then had to sit for 45 minutes to get from the 5 exit to the parking lot 6 blocks away, and had to hide my camera under my jacket to avoid it getting soaked on the 2 block walk to the convention center.

The volleyball tournament was a weird sight, they seemed confused by the huge costumed crowds. There was no signage explaining that registration was downstairs, and I have to agree with Bikerscout that the layout at this convention center sucks for something like this -- the panel rooms were bad too, very shallow and wide so almost nobody gets to see the dais, almost everybody's in the wings. The exhibit hall wasn't that well organized and was smaller than I expected for a con that last year had 50k people. There were too many dealers surrounding everything, and not enough things to see. That said, it wasn't terrible, I'd like to see them either create a new con in LA or alternate Wondercon in SF and here. Oh, and they REALLY need a better system for their food facilities, that was a confusing mess and there's nothing nearby the doors of the con.

I bought 2 new Koto ice cube trays - Vader and the Stormtrooper. I meant to get the Falcon as well, but I wasn't feeling well and left early.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

I thought there would be more of a presence by the major comic companies (DC was a slightly scaled down version of their SDCC booth and Marvel was an embarrassing shell). There was less of a studio presence, thankfully, than I expected given the proximity to Hollywood and the summer movie season.

I was able to get a variety of items at well below F&S prices, particularly on Sunday - my favorite of three days, by far, where the crowds were most manageable. Friday presented a challenge to navigate rush hour traffic after work to get there in time for the animated Superman film screening (which was very well done). I did not wait in a line for registration at all. My neighbor (his first ever convention) and I walked the hall briefly and then went up to the screening, where we also did not wait. Saturday was a battle against the elements. We were ushered away from the on site parking lot as we arrived and sent to Angel Stadium to park. We did not wait more than three minutes for the shuttle (a tour bus complete with bathroom) and the ride to the convention center was quick, but in those few minutes we were soaked. The trip back to the car that night was also brief and, thankfully, dry.

My problems with the convention were more about the surroundings of the venue. The convention center has space, but that's about it. The amenities are sorely lacking. There is nowhere nearby enough to go to eat; you've got to go a few blocks for decent food, as there was only a tiny and severely impacted food court in one of the hotels adjacent to the center. SF had a similar problem when I went last year. There were eateries within a few blocks’ walking distance, but nothing immediately adjacent the way SD has it. The Moscone Center there seemed much smaller than Anaheim.

I deal with high school students on a daily basis, so the volleyball and cheer squads didn’t bother me. In fact, I thought having them created a unique atmosphere and hopefully broadened the appeal of the event, which is exactly the point of the event, according to the mission statement on the con badge.

I hope the event returns and that the organizers try it out at the LA Convention Center.

Haha. Based on our 3 mini-reviews, I'd say that that is a good summation of Wondercon '12 in Anaheim.

Odds & ends - my friends and I shared a lunch table at the Hilton with a HS cheerleader and her mom. She proudly showed her mother's camcorder footage of her team's routine. Good luck to her.

I didn't find the panel rooms annoying. Only went to 2 rooms I think.

Parking at the disney lot for $12 across the street was reasonable. Short walk, but yeah with the rain Sat. that was probably really s****.

Not bad for 10 bux. I had fun. Wish there were more interesting booths to see, seemed like more vendors than anything. Did not get a chance to see autograph alley either. That's always fun for a quick lookie-lou-ing stroll

West Siders, the Expo line is finally opening, April 28th. And the terminus at Venice & Robertson opens a few months later. What?!? I don't know either. I guess they screwed up that terminal as the phase 1 line itself was completed to La Cienega back in December and they thought they'd have it going 1 more stop by then, but now they're looking at more delay. Phase 2, btw, has its expected completion date moved back to 2016, but it'll run all the way to the beach.

Culver City Mall Target had nothing of note in either SW or TF, but they did have TFOTM HA-basic Thunderhead for $5.24 on clearance, so I bought. It's not as bad as I expected, and not as good as it should be, but for $5 it's alright and comes with 2 clip-system and a 5mm weapon.

Originally Posted by bikerscout

Who did u get JT?

And where the *(%^ are these deleted scene figures already?? Hasbro's waiting till we're flat broke, then they'll put out a ton of em. Seems like it's been 3 mos. of TPM wave

The TPM figures hit online and lightly in stores back in mid-January, so the 6 to 8 week window Hasbro was aiming for seems roughly on schedule since the Blu Ray figs are hitting online now and lightly in stores, but it's really frustrating doing it this way.

BTW Maradona, sounds like that bus was the way to go, I was so tempted to try it when I saw how crazy the drive up was, but I didn't want to lug stuff on the bus - I had my umbrella too so waiting for it wouldn't have been too bad for me, at least no worse than the 2-block trudge through to the convention center from their shared parking lot. You are so right that the surroundings are worthless and require you to walk at least a quarter-mile to get to something adequate, that's one of the reasons I've been reticent about them moving SDCC to Anaheim or LA convention centers.

When I was doing my SDCC research before, I found that Moscone was 700k square feet while Anaheim was just over 800k. SD convention center is 1.1 million sq ft and they've just approved another 600k or so expansion (which will be paid for partly by an increase in hotel taxes). LACC is just over 850k sq ft making it worthless for consideration for moving Comic-Con to, but that doesn't count the Nokia theater or Staples center (although those are separately-owned facilities and would require renting separately and separate staffing which makes it prohibitive, and a lot of the Staples Center's million square feet is arena which isn't useful in this scenario - the Nokia is about as big as SDCC Hall H though). In fact, the only other Southwest-area convention facilities I found that could accommodate Comic-Con's current numbers are both in Las Vegas, the Sands Expo at 1.2 million sq ft wouldn't really be useful on its own as it's the same size as SDCC right now; and the Las Vegas Convention Center is a whopping 3 million sq feet, triple the size of the SDCC facility. That said, nobody wants to go to Vegas in July.

At first, I thought those volleyball player girls were costume characters.

The thing about LACC that's bad for a Comic-Con like event, aside from being too small, is that its exhibit hall space is broken up into 4 separate areas - West hall, South hall, the concourse, and Kentia hall which is essentially a converted parking lot under the West hall. So if they were to use all that exhibit space, it'd have less flow than SDCC's giant single exhibit hall - that said, Anaheim's Wondercon exhibit hall was pretty small, it'd fit inside either the West or South hall at LACC, and LACC has adequate panel room facilities upstairs.

Biker, $10 to get in? My buddy paid $25!

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

What up ladies!!!! Long time no see! And of course I need your help. Can you guys stash for me the new Marvel Legends, series 1 and 2, if you see them, por favor? I'm able to only travel to places close to Burbank. Super busy right now with work and can't hunt anymore (which was something I miss)
All right, thanks in advance and good luck with all your hunting!

When I was doing my SDCC research before, I found that Moscone was 700k square feet while Anaheim was just over 800k. SD convention center is 1.1 million sq ft and they've just approved another 600k or so expansion (which will be paid for partly by an increase in hotel taxes). LACC is just over 850k sq ft making it worthless for consideration for moving Comic-Con to, but that doesn't count the Nokia theater or Staples center (although those are separately-owned facilities and would require renting separately and separate staffing which makes it prohibitive, and a lot of the Staples Center's million square feet is arena which isn't useful in this scenario - the Nokia is about as big as SDCC Hall H though). In fact, the only other Southwest-area convention facilities I found that could accommodate Comic-Con's current numbers are both in Las Vegas, the Sands Expo at 1.2 million sq ft wouldn't really be useful on its own as it's the same size as SDCC right now; and the Las Vegas Convention Center is a whopping 3 million sq feet, triple the size of the SDCC facility. That said, nobody wants to go to Vegas in July.

I'm glad to hear that the folks in SD got together to expand their convention center and keep Comic-Con. It would be a shame to lose such an event. Call it nostalgia for the half of my life spent traveling there each year or call it fact, but I don't see anywhere out west that currently has the infrastructure to support what Comic-Con has become in these past several years. Sure, Las Vegas is king among convention size spots and I would be curious in seeing how a Comic-Con might function there, but having been there during summer, it is not pleasant; this is notwithstanding the connotation that Vegas has. LACC, should the Farmers Field project get done, will equal SD's pending new convention center size, but that is a few years away at least.

If the area surrounding it continues to grow, attract restaurants (which it has more than I thought it would these past few years), and have more public transportation options open up (as you mentioned about the Expo line), then maybe the next time Comic-Con's contract is up, they might consider it. I realize keeping options open is important, but (as far as I know) Comic-Con has not signed a very long term contract to stay in SD. Could they themselves be seriously thinking about leaving or using its potential as a leveraging tool? I sincerely hope not, since my annual stops at the Carlsbad Danish Bakery (can't recommend this place enough) on the way down to Comic-Con and gluttonous breakfasts at Richard Walker's Pancake House would be terribly missed.

What up ladies!!!! Long time no see! And of course I need your help. Can you guys stash for me the new Marvel Legends, series 1 and 2, if you see them, por favor? I'm able to only travel to places close to Burbank. Super busy right now with work and can't hunt anymore (which was something I miss)
All right, thanks in advance and good luck with all your hunting!

Is Culver City too far for you? I spotted Fantomex on Saturday, so they're starting to hit around here.

Originally Posted by bikerscout

JT - when u said "and vintage in clearance" i thought u meant TVC. Yeah, $10 to get in Sunday, if you registered online beforehand. $15 at door.

Ah, ok, right on both.

Commtech - i'll stash if i see them, but what scale are these guys and who's in the waves? Anyone particular u want stashed? Lmk.

I'm glad to hear that the folks in SD got together to expand their convention center and keep Comic-Con. It would be a shame to lose such an event. Call it nostalgia for the half of my life spent traveling there each year or call it fact, but I don't see anywhere out west that currently has the infrastructure to support what Comic-Con has become in these past several years. Sure, Las Vegas is king among convention size spots and I would be curious in seeing how a Comic-Con might function there, but having been there during summer, it is not pleasant; this is notwithstanding the connotation that Vegas has.

Yeah, agreed on all points.

LACC, should the Farmers Field project get done, will equal SD's pending new convention center size, but that is a few years away at least.

If the area surrounding it continues to grow, attract restaurants (which it has more than I thought it would these past few years), and have more public transportation options open up (as you mentioned about the Expo line), then maybe the next time Comic-Con's contract is up, they might consider it. I realize keeping options open is important, but (as far as I know) Comic-Con has not signed a very long term contract to stay in SD. Could they themselves be seriously thinking about leaving or using its potential as a leveraging tool? I sincerely hope not, since my annual stops at the Carlsbad Danish Bakery (can't recommend this place enough) on the way down to Comic-Con and gluttonous breakfasts at Richard Walker's Pancake House would be terribly missed.

IMO, the Farmers Field project is the wrong call, here's a bunch of reasons why:
- Putting a stadium that close to the freeway will be a traffic disaster.
- Knocking down half the convention center to put up a stadium won't solve the actual problem of the convention center being too small -- the stadium layout will be inappropriate and useless for convention center needs, so their 1.7m sq ft number is actually the 80k sq ft SMALLER than existing size of the LACC and Staples Center which they show their map in blue as being the new design.
- They're talking about knocking down the existing West Hall AND its parking lot, putting up a new West Hall on top of Pico which is unrealistic and will have no replacement parking at all, and then tying the existing concourse right to their stadium even though it won't be owned by the LACC.
- It seems like a total scam meant to get the LA taxpayers to pay for even more of AEG's venues, they already own Staples Center, LA Live, and the Nokia Plaza right there that AEG got the city planners to shovel taxpayer money into without return.
- The silliest part is that LA already has a larger stadium not far from there, the LA Coliseum, which is actually too large for NFL (the NFL has a minimum seating percentage requirement for local teams to be able to broadcast on TV), it just needs a renovation that balances historical site status with modern facility design.
- Speaking of sports, having 2 sports venues next to the convention center will push conventions out of whack, either they'll always be stuck between sporting events or they'll have to run concurrently with them which will make parking, traffic, food, mass transit, and other logistics a disaster.

Either LACC needs to build a 3rd hall across Figueroa (an East hall and concourse would work, there's actually plenty of room if the crappy plaza gets used and the space across the street is essentially junked right now as a crummy private parking lot - of course, had the Staples Center not have been forced on top of the LACC, they could have just built an East hall there without having to cross Figueroa) or just build an all-new, larger facility somewhere else (where? I don't know, maybe south by Washington and 37th where it's just train yards and industrial buildings, but it's next to the low-used 10 fwy as well as the LA river). But Farmers Field isn't the answer.

As for the Comic-Con International committee, I think they were just using a move as leverage to force San Diego's city council to better facilitate the convention's needs - the council was being indecisive about building, they wanted CCI to foot the bill entirely and they were dragging their feet even then, despite SDCC being the city's biggest earner every year.

Huh, I've never stopped on my way to or from Comic-Con, I always muscle straight through to either Tycho's house or to the hotel. Even my visit to Legoland last year was a non-stopper, the only times I've stopped were last-minute things, once a friend and I were visiting Tycho and we stopped at Denny's, another time it was a Jack in the Box, both were last-minute and we actually were hoping to find something more charming but I got off the freeway without checking what was around first. Sounds like you've made a meal (pun intended) of the trip.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.